“Auto-dialers” are known devices in the prior art. The limitation of “auto-dialers” is that each person or organization that wishes to use one must own an individual machine. Furthermore, the person must reprogram the machine each time it is used. This includes programming both the message and the list of phone numbers. In addition, “auto-dialers” can only send messages through the phone, but not through modern communication technology like email.
Furthermore, “auto-dialers” cannot be accessed remotely. Thus each “auto-dialer” must use the local phone system to make calls. In an emergency, the “auto-dialer” will lose its effectiveness if the local phone system has failed.
Phone trees are a known method of distributing information. The idea is that one person calls the next few people and distributes information that way. The concept relies on the use of a large number of people and the “many hands make light work” principle. By having many people making calls, the burden on any one person is small, but the number of messages distributed is large. This system has the weakness that it cannot work without a large number of people. Furthermore, this large number of people means that the message may change as each person restates the message. In addition, each person must use the local phone system that they have access to. This means that the phone tree will break down when the local phone systems itself has failed.
The present invention solves these problems by creating an automated message distribution system that must be accessed remotely and can make both phone calls and send emails and text messages according to a predetermined contact list. Thus a message sender can rely on the fact that as long as the sender can contact the message distribution system once, the sender can send a customized message to the predetermined contact list and be assured that the messages will be sent because the message distribution system can utilize portions of a communications network that have not been effected by a local failure. This is especially helpful in an area where the failure of the phone network is spreading. Furthermore, the user has confidence that the present invention will keep trying to deliver the message by phone and email until it is successfully delivered by both.